Monday, August 31, 2026

It is the 31st of August 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy Monday- the last day of August- the first day of the rest of your life.

We head to the mailbag to answer a question from Jacob in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Jacob… I need to visit. I don’t need your address, but as I read up on all the places the listeners are from- as you all give me tidbits… first, it’s in “Christian County”… hello Christian Nationalism! Wait… now… named after a dude whose last name was Christian. The Hopkinsville encounter of 1955… maybe an alien, maybe the Hopkinsville Goblin… maybe a Great Horn Owl.

Ok- in reference to my recent show on the Stone-Campbell movement and discussing the size of denominations, Jacob wondered where “Non-Denominational” Christians fit both in the broader scheme of American Christians AND where they fit historically (I think that’s a good summary of the email). OK…. So, you should find the work of Ryan Burge… religion and charts and all this great stuff. He has a graph that shows in 1972 American Protestants most identified as Baptist- 32%. Methodists were 22%, Lutherans 14%, Presbyterians 8%, and 3% Non-Denominational. Ok… in 2024, where did we stand… Baptists just dipped from 32 to 29. Methodists fell from 22 to 8, Lutherans went from 14 to 8, Presbys from 8 to 5, and the Non-Denoms… at 3% in 1972? Well, they are no longer the largest, exploding to 30%.

So- this tells us that those who identify as “Non Denominational” are largely a product of the broadly Evangelical Jesus People Movement of the 1970s. They are largely Baptist in their doctrine of believers' baptism, because most Americans are (we’ve talked about how it’s the opposite in the rest of the world… huh?)

The history of “non denominational’ gets tricky. First, “denomination” means “to name” and if you say “we are the ones without a name” then it makes it hard for us to identify who you are. It’s largely a “primitivist” “back to the Bible” type movement and that’s why I think the Stone Campbell Churches of Christ/Christian Churches are a good antecedent.

If you’ve ever heard of a “Free” Church… this is also baked into the history of the “non-denominational movement”. To be “Non Denominational” assumes a context that hasn’t always existed- a pluralistic and secular state. The “Free Churches” were those that wanted to be free from state coercion, free from the “state church”.

All of this goes back, of course, to the Reformation and the freedom from the absolute authority of a human being or collection of humans. And so, we could also compare the modern Non-denominational church to the earliest church (for which they would say “thank you very much!”). The early church was voluntary; it often lacked credentialing systems and formal confessions. They weren’t opposed to identifying with one another, but each church was led by its own overseers (which is what priest or pastor or bishop all point to… not fancy hats or some kind of secret unbroken chain of religious handshakes)

Of course, denominations or “naming” became useful as heresies developed and you had to point out which “kind” of Christian you were. Or, if you accepted *that* authority or had *this* kind of worship style (as they developed and differed from one another). So… “naming” became important- thus, “denominations” but you can see why many have looked at the landscape of denominational alphabet soup and said, “I’d like to opt out of that.”

SO- Jacob, great question. “Non-Denominational” fits a kind of restorationist Baptist early church model and has a long history and has become the largest Protestant expression of Christianity in America today. Thanks for the question!

You can send me your questions- recipes, true crime documentary suggestions (please, NOT Death of a Pastor's Wife… that ruined my Friday night)…I’m at Danv@1517.org.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Revelation 3, to the church in Sardis.

To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 31st of August 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who recommends the Christian Classic “A Thief in the Night”… he calls it the Christian Citizen Kane- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who would submit that the pastor in that documentary is a very good argument for some kind of denominational structure… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.